1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, a recording medium, and a program and, in particular, to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, a recording medium, and a program for obtaining a high-quality and high-resolution image by redrawing a clear and natural edge and texture using a method matched to human visual characteristics.
2. Description of the Related Art
The need for a process known as digital zooming has been growing as the digital image based apparatuses (e.g., digital cameras and video tape recorders with a camera) have become widespread. Accordingly, a variety of methods for increasing the resolution of a digital image has been developed. Examples of known methods include the following three methods: (1) zero-order-hold interpolation in which the closest pixels are directly used. This is a simple interpolation especially from a hardware point of view; (2) bilinear interpolation in which an average of the closest two pixel values is computed and new pixels are inserted in the vertical and horizontal directions. This is a superior method for interpolating adjacent pixels; (3) B-spline interpolation. This method is not affected by noise and does not generate a mosaic pattern.
In addition, there is provided a method that converts an interlace screen to a progressive screen by enhancing the edge (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-215121).